Overnight Stays in Non-Hotel Tourist Accommodation Fell by 63% in March

Overnight stays by residents of Spain decreased by 71.9% and those by non-residents decreased by 59.6%; meanwhile, the average stay amounted to 7.4 nights per traveller.

Overnight stays in non-hotel tourist accommodation – such as apartments, campsites, rural tourism accommodation and hostels – exceeded 2.4 million in March, down by 63.2% compared to the same month in 2019, according to provisional data published on Monday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Overnight stays by residents of Spain fell by 71.9%, whilst those made by non-residents decreased by 59.6%; meanwhile, the average stay amounted to 7.4 nights per traveller. In this way, during the first quarter of 2020, overnight stays decreased by 21.4% with respect to the same period a year earlier.

CBRE: Hotel Investment in the Balearics Doubled in 2018 to c. €1bn

26 March 2019 – Preferente

According to data compiled by CBRE, 47 transactions were closed in the hotel market in the Balearic Islands in 2018, corresponding to a total investment volume of more than €967 million. That figure accounted for 20% of the capital invested in Spain during the year and 32 of the transactions were concentrated in Mallorca, followed by Ibiza with 11 operations and Menorca with just 4.

Most of the operations involved hotel portfolios although two individual asset sales stand out due to their high prices per room: Hospes Maricel & Spa (as part of the Hospes Portfolio) and Belmond La Residencia. Both are 5-star establishments.

Palma (de Mallorca) maintained its position as an attractive urban tourist destination, with the addition of seven new hotel establishments comprising 275 rooms during 2018 alone.

More than 10.3 million visitors travelled to the Balearic Islands during 2018, up by 2.3% YoY, breaking the record the fourth year in a row. Nevertheless, the number of overnight stays fell slightly to 59.3 million (down by 0.4% YoY). Meanwhile, the ADR of the hotels on the islands broke the €100 barrier to reach €104.10 in 2018, up by 5.5% compared to 2017. In addition, RevPAR rose by 3.5% YoY to €80.10.

Original story: Preferente (by R.P.)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Hotels Suffer from the First Decrease in Overnight Stays since 2012

24 January 2019 – Expansión

The record number of tourists registered in 2018 has not removed the bitter taste from the mouths of Spanish hoteliers, who are starting to suffer from symptoms that the sector is worn out. In 2018, Spanish hotels recorded the first decrease in the number of overnight stays in six years. A moderate decrease, of –0.1%, according to data from INE, but one that has not been seen since 2012, when Spain was in the midst of the financial crisis.

Spain is receiving more tourists than ever, and they are increasing their spending year on year, but they are also gradually reducing their average stay, and some of the demand is opting for alternative destinations, such as Turkey, which are competing on price, which is eroding the margins of many hotels at home (…).

According to data from Exceltur, Spain lost 21 million overnight stays in 2018, due to a decrease in the average stay. The boom in low-cost airlines, amongst other factors in the sector, has favoured the democratisation of tourism. Increasingly more people are travelling, but they are doing so for shorter periods. Whilst in 2008, the average stay was 9.4 days, it is now 7.4 days.

That change can be observed most easily amongst overseas tourists, who account for 65.8% of overnight stays and who decreased the number of nights spent in Spain by -0.4%, whereas domestic tourists increased their overnight stays by +0.4%.

The change in trend is being observed primarily in the traditional beach and sun markets, and in the most important months for the sector, in the height of the summer. In the Canary Islands, the primary destination for international tourists, accounting for almost one third of all overnight stays, visits by foreigners decreased by 3.6%(…).

According to explanations provided recently by the Head of Research at Exceltur, Óscar Perelli, these decreases reflect “the recovery of competitor countries”. Hotels, especially those on the beach, are being affected by competition in terms of prices from countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia. Those markets have recovered around 12 million tourists in recent years and they are still 20% below the levels they reached before their own crises (…).

Travellers from the United Kingdom and Germany account for 46% of all of the overnight stays made by non-resident visitors, and yet, there was a -0.9% decrease last year in the case of British tourists.

As a result, many hotels are trying to compete through promotional packages and cost reduction policies, and so prices barely increased in 2018. The Index of Hotel Prices from INE reflects a 1.5% increase in hotel tariffs, barely three decimal points above inflation for the year, making it the lowest rise in prices since 2013.

In terms of tourists who increased their hotel stays by the most, those who have to travel long distances, including visitors from the US (6.1%) are also the travellers who spend the most (€113 per tourist per day, compared with €98/tourist/day for those visiting from traditional markets), and so representatives in the sector recommend focusing promotional strategies to attract tourists from those countries.

Original story: Expansión (by Inma Benedito)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spanish Government Fears a Slowdown in Tourism Due to Fall in Arrivals by Germans and British

31 August 2018

COMPETITION FROM GREECE, EGYPT AND TURKEY / “The symptoms of the slowdown we have observed are beginning to consolidate,” Turespaña expects the year to end with “very moderate, zero or negative growth.”

The Government of Pedro Sanchez has added its voice to the experts forecasting a turbulent year for tourism, believing that the sector could end the year with “very moderate, zero or negative growth.”

Successive falls in the main indicators (e.g. hotel occupancy rates, overnight stays, prices) and comments by representatives of the sector, such as Exceltur, sounded the alarm several months ago, warning that the sector was in the throes of a slowdown.

“The behaviour of our three major emitting markets, and that of Italy, the Netherlands and the US, can tilt the balance between very moderate growth and zero or negative growth,” the Spanish government warned through Turespaña in its Quarterly Prospective Report for International Tourism, published at the end of August.

“We must not forget that 2017 was an absolute record year across the board,” sources at the Ministry for Industry, Trade and Tourism said in statements to this newspaper. In 2017, Spain received almost 82 million tourists, a figure that made Spain a world leader in international arrivals, only behind France.

Even so, the forecast for arrivals for the period from July to October is positive, with an estimated increase of 2.4% in the number of tourists, for a total number of arrivals for this period nearing 38 million.

The report notes that “the symptoms of the slowdown we have observed are beginning to consolidate.” The problem is that Spain’s two principal emitting markets for tourists both began to opt for other destinations. The price of oil, the appreciation of the euro, the effects of Brexit and the insecurity generated by the independence movement in Catalonia are some of the proximate causes. In July, the number of German tourists who visited Spain fell by 11%, and the number of British arrivals fell by 6%. Between July and October, Turespaña expects British tourists to fall by 4.2%, and overnight stays by Germans will fall by 5.1%.

German tourists begin to replace Spain with Greece as a destination. “Although it is less well-known than Spain, it gets higher marks ​​in the minds of German tourists as a unique destination,” says another report by Turespaña. In the case of British tourists, Turkey and Egypt have recovered their shares of the reservations of tour operators, to the detriment of Spain, which registered a fall of 4% in reservations between July and October, losing a 3.6%-share.

Turespaña does expect that tourist spending will continue to increase at a good pace, with an expected increase of 5.3% between July and October. “We are working to attract tourists with greater purchasing power and to lengthen their stays to increase spending,” they explain.

Original Story: ProOrbyt Expansión – I. Benedito

Translation: Richard Turner

 

Hotel Activity in Spain Slows Down in July

25 August 2018

Overnight stays in Spain fell by more than 2% last month. The recovery of the tourist sector in other countries looks set to prevent the industry from reaching a new annual record.

Executives and experts from the tourism sector predicted that the passenger and occupancy records set in 2017 are unlikely to be repeated, at least for the hotel sector. Overnight stays in hotels fell by 2.2% in July compared to the year before, reaching 42.6 million stays, according to data released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

There was a noted reduction in both stays by Spanish tourists and those of foreigners, decreasing by 1.1% and 2.7%, respectively, in this high-summer month. On the other hand, hotels in Spain charged an average of 101 euros per occupied room, an annual increase of 3.1%, according to the same source. At the end of the season, despite the fall in overnight stays, Spain’s hotels are expected to have revenues that are broadly similar to those of the year before.

The president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations (Cehat), Joan Molas, stated that the decrease had been expected and had already been noted in the previous months. This is partly because many competing tourist destinations have started recovering, leading them to attract many of the same customers who tend to visit Spain: tourists from the United Kingdom and Germany.

Josep Francesc Valls, a professor, specialising in tourism at Esade, does not believe that the figure for July is necessarily negative. “It was expected because the tourist activity in Spain had been growing due to endogenous causes that would be reversed at some point, and that is what is happening now.” The important thing, according to Valls, is the average cost, which is continuing its upward trajectory.

The two main markets, the United Kingdom and Germany, which jointly account for almost half of demand, saw overnight stays fall by 2.5% and 11.4%, respectively. During the first seven months of the year, the total number of overnight stays went down by 0.7% compared to the same period last year. In July, hotel occupancy also fell, reaching 71.1% of the total availability, a fall of 2.4% in relation to the same month of 2017.

Baleares, the Chosen Destination

The Baleares had the highest occupancy rate in July, at 89.5%; followed by the Canary Islands (80.7%) and Valencia (74%). Baleares was also the main destination for non-resident travellers in Spain, with 35% of the total number of overnight stays, increasing by 1.1% in comparison to July 2017.

Catalonia followed with 20.7% of the total, though overnight stays by foreigners fell by 6.2%. The most significant drop occurred in the province of Tarragona where the total number of travellers fell by 12% along with overnight stays. The biggest drop was by foreign travellers, down 17% compared to July 2017. Despite this, Molas stressed that with the available data on reservations for September point to a hotel occupancy similar to that of last year, with a clear recovery in the British, German, Belgian and Dutch markets.

The decrease in travellers and overnight stays in hotels in July contrasts with the record number of passengers registered in the same period in several airports. For the hotel manager, Joan Molas, this discrepancy confirms an increase in the use of illegal tourist flats.

Original Story: El Periódico de Aragón – Salvador Sabriá

Translation: Richard Turner

 

Be Mate Teams Up With Fund Q Capital to Grow its Tourist Home Business

23 March 2017 – Expansión

The businessman Enrique Sarasola has found a new formula for accelerating the growth of Be Mate, the rental platform for tourist apartments, through which he is complementing his Room Mate hotel offering. The plan is to team up with the investment fund Q Capital, which will contribute €100 million of funding so that Be Mate can search for, adapt and manage between eight and ten apartment buildings in cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga and Sevilla.

“The project reinforces the idea that you can’t block progress”, explains Sarasola to Expansión, who also highlighted the importance of the fact that a “team as strong” as the one at Q Capital has decided to back the management of entire apartment buildings. The faces behind that firm include Íñigo Olaguíbel, Borja Oyarzábal and Borja Pérez.

Q Capital, founded in 2016, channels direct investments in Spain from Qualitas Equity Partners. Its objective is to find returns in segments such as SMEs and other niche areas not served by traditional financial operators.

Medium and long stay apartments

This alliance is going to give a boost to the concept already tested by Be Mate in the Plaza de España Skyline building: the management of entire buildings of tourist apartments. This business, inaugurated last year, is proving “a success”, explains Sarasola.

The novelty is not only in the financing, which is going to be provided by Q Capital, but also in the fact that Be Mate is going to go beyond the tourist home service to offer “apartments for medium and long stays, and for corporate use”. According to Sarasola, “it is another change that adapts to our times. We are pioneers in this field, but it is because we listen to our clients and we have identified that the need exists”.

Of the ten or so buildings planned, Be Mate has already identified five. The acquisitions will be undertaken over the next three years, initially in Spain, which is the “priority” market, but not at any price. “We will invest here for as long as the regulations are not prohibitive. If that changes, we will go overseas”, he warns.

Be Mate broke its own revenue record last year, by generating sales of €6 million, 10 times more than during the previous year. It sold 80,000 overnight stays for 30,000 clients, 40% of whom came from international markets. The company offers 10,000 apartments, 600 of which it manages exclusively.

Original story: Expansión (by I. de las Heras)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Irea: Madrid Led Ranking For Hotel Investment In 2016 (€445M)

2 October 2017 – El Boletin

The strong outlook for tourism in Madrid is continuing to attract interest from investors, as shown by the fact that the Spanish capital was the largest focus for hotel investment in 2016, with a total volume of €445.3 million, according to the report “Five Keys Madrid vs Barcelona 2016 – 2017”, published by Irea.

Last year, Madrid recorded 13 transactions in total, the most notable of which involved the sale of Hotel Villa Magna to the Dogus Group. During the first half of 2017, the city of Madrid registered 6 hotel transactions, whereby doubling the number recorded in 2016, with a total volume of €312.9 million. By far the most significant operation in H1 2017 was the purchase of Edificio España by Riu Hotels, which is going to convert the property into a 650-room hotel in the heart of Madrid.

Meanwhile, Barcelona was relegated to third place in the hotel investment ranking in 2016, behind Madrid and the Canary Islands, but ahead of the Balearic Islands, with a hotel investment volume of €214.6 million. Six hotels were sold in the Catalan capital, containing 1,028 rooms in total.

Nevertheless, that investment figure represented a decrease of 38.8% with respect to the maximum reached in 2015, explained in large part by the price rise effect resulting from the hotel moratorium approved by the city’s Town Hall. The first half of 2017 was very active in terms of hotel transactions, with the sale of five hotels and a total investment of €230.2 million. The main transactions involved the purchase of 55% of Hilton Diagonal by AXA REIM (for a price per room of more than €300,000) and the acquisition of Silken Diagonal by Benson Elliot and Highgate.

Demand

Madrid also led the domestic ranking for the number of travellers last year and came second (after Barcelona) in terms of the number of overnight stays, with 9.0 million and 18.1 million, respectively. For another year, the Catalan capital was the leading destination in terms of overnight stays in 2016 (19.6 million); it received 7.5 million travellers, which represents an average stay of 2.6 days (vs. 2 days in Madrid).

The report highlights that in both markets, the behaviour of international demand has been excellent and it notes the growth of 10.2% in the case of Madrid during the first half of 2017, confirming the upwards trend driven by overseas tourists (…).

Supply

In terms of the hotel supply, Madrid recorded a total of 68,790 beds in the highest category (an almost identical figure to that of Barcelona) (…), with 5-star establishments accounting for 15% of the city’s hotel beds in 2016.

Although the statistical data do not reflect it yet, the recovery in the construction of new hotels in the capital is already evident – according to the report – and will be noted in the data for the coming years, given that short-medium term forecasts for Madrid indicate that more than 4,400 new hotel beds are going to available soon, led by major hotel chains and international investment funds, who are backing the city, given the strong outlook for its tourism sector (…).

Key indicators

The positive trend that Madrid has recorded in terms of demand, together with the stable evolution of its hotel supply, has led to the growth of operating results in recent years. The Spanish capital recorded an average RevPAR of €63.30 in 2016, up by 6.1% compared to 2015 and up by 32% compared to the minimum level recorded in 2013 (…).

Meanwhile, the profitability indicators for the hotel sector in Barcelona have also grown significantly in recent years. Revenue per available room experienced average annual growth of 2.3% during the period 2008-2016 (…). In 2016, RevPAR in Barcelona amounted to €95.90 (…) up by 5.2% compared to 2015.

Original story: El Boletin (by E. B.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: Foreigners Account For 82% Of Overnight Stays In 5-Star Hotels

29 August 2017 – El Economista

Foreigners who visited Spain in July registered more than 1.9 million overnight stays in five-star hotels, representing 82% of the total number of nights sold in the most luxurious category of hotel accommodation.

According to data extracted by Servimedia from the Tourist Hotel Environment Survey from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), five-star hotels recorded the highest percentage of clients from overseas, exceeding the average for hotel accommodation as a whole, where foreign clients accounted for 67.2% of all rooms, by 15 percentage points.

In fact, 6.5% of the overnight stays by foreigners in Spanish hotels were registered in five-star hotels, a percentage that more than doubles the 2.8% recorded by domestic clients in high-end establishments.

Meanwhile, four-star hotels registered more activity in Spain by both overseas and domestic tourists. The presence of foreign clients amounted to 69.3%, with 14.6 million overnight stays, compared to 6.4 million overnight stays by domestic visitors.

This figure of overnight stays in four-star hotels accounted for 49.7% of all stays registered by overseas tourists in the country, compared to a percentage of 45.2% in the case of domestic tourists.

If we add together the overnight stays registered in the two highest categories, we see that 56.3% of the foreigners that visited Spain in July slept in four and five-star hotels, whilst in the case of Spaniards, that percentage amounted to 48.1%.

After four star hotels, the accommodation most used by foreigners and by local tourists alike were three-star hotels, which hosted 33.2% of overseas tourists and 28.8% of domestic visitors.

Specifically, international tourists registered 9.7 million overnight stays in three-star hotels in July, accounting for 70.2% of the total in that category, compared to 4.1 million domestic overnight stays.

In the remaining categories, 1.4 million overnight stays or 4.7% of the total number of stays by foreigners were in two-star hotels; 0.4 million or 1.5% were in 1-star hotels; 0.5 million or 1.9% were in three- and two-star hostels; and 0.6 million or 2.1% in one-star hostels.

Of these four categories, domestic clients accounted for a higher percentage of total stays than foreigners in the lowest three, whilst overseas tourists accounted for 52.2% of overnight stays in two-star hotels. Specifically, domestic clients accounted for 54.3% of stays in one-star hotels, 58% in three- and two-star hostels and 50.7% in one-star hostels.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hotels Increase Revenues and Prices Spurred by Record Occupancy

24 August 2017

Spain registered a historic high of 44 million overnight hotel stays and a record occupancy of 73% in July. The data show increases in hotel rates of 7% and average daily revenues per room of 8%.

The recent successive tourism records are translating into historic highs in overnight stays and occupancy, and underline the hotel sector’s ebullience. In July 43.6 million overnight stays were registered in hotels, 1.6% more than in July 2016. Overnight stays between January and July increased by 3.8% and exceeded 190.6 million overnight stays, according to the latest report by Hotel Statistics, prepared by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

11.8 million Spanish and foreign travellers stayed in hotels in July. The record figure lends credence to previous forecasts that 2017 will be a new record setting year, with more than 83 million arrivals. At the same time, hotel occupancy rates stood at 73.1% (an increase of 0.7%). In the case of weekends, occupancy rates rose to 77.3%, an increase of 2.2%.

Areas that are traditionally the focus of tourism are at the centre of data on hotel occupancy. The Balearic Islands reached a rate of 90.7% in July, accounting for 34% of total overnight stays in Spain, followed by the Canary Islands (83.6%) and Catalonia (77.7%). Barcelona continues as the most favoured city with an 83.9% occupancy rate. Looking at total overnight stays, the most crowded area has been Mallorca, with 8 million overnight stays and an occupancy rate of 92%. As for average stays, Pájara, a municipality located in Fuerteventura, registered an average stay of 8.42 days.

These figures are great news for the hotel sector, which continues to increase revenues and raise prices per room. Thus, the Hotel Price Index (IPH) increased by 6.9% in July. The Balearic Islands, Catalonia, the Canary Islands and Andalusia accounted for 76.9% of the HPI.

The rate hotels charge on average for each room stood at 98.5 euros. This is an increase of 6.1% compared to July 2016. Likewise, the average daily income per available room (RevPAR) rose 7.9% in July, to 74.8 euros. In the Balearic Islands, the same figure amounted to 105.8 euros (4% more), while in Catalonia it soared 16%, to 86.8 euros.

The Circle Widens

Although the countries in the European Union continue to lead overnight stays, accounting for 80.3% of the total number of foreign visitors, tourism from countries further afield is growing at a faster pace. In fact, while visitors from countries like France, the United Kingdom and Belgium fell by 7%, 5% and 4%, respectively; overnight stays of tourists from Russia and Japan soared by 24% and 20%. In the case of the United States, the increase was 16% in July. Germany would be the exception that confirms the rule. The increase of overnight stays of German tourists amounted to 9%.

Although the number of overnight stays continues to increase, the sector faces several challenges that will permit hotel revenues and prices to continue to increase. The first involves the democratization of transport, where people will be able to travel more for less money, but over shorter periods of time.

Specifically, the Spanish government, through the Secretary of State for Tourism, announced a strategic plan focusing on quality tourism, whose economic impact is coupled with the record arrivals. So far, Spain ranks second in the world in terms of revenues from tourism, with €54 billion, according to the latest ranking of the World Tourism Organization, only behind the United States, which is favoured by visitors from more countries around the world, who have more purchasing power and stay for longer periods.

The second challenge is related to the disruptive entry of new players into the field of tourist accommodations. Vacation rental platforms have revolutionized the sector, to the point where the places they offer are more than double the number of hotel rooms in the main cities. The impact of the boom of these platforms has placed constraints on occupancy rates, prices and revenues in the formal hotel sector, which is subject to greater regulatory oversight.

Original Story: ProOrbyt Expansion – Inma Benedito

Translation: Richard Turner

 

Irea: Hotel Inv’t In H1 2017 Amounted To €1,655M

10 July 2017 – Reuters

Attracted by encouraging forecasts in the hotel sector, domestic and international investors alike purchased 79 hotels in Spain during the first six months of 20176, for a combined amount of €1,655 million, according to a report presented on Friday by the consultancy firm Irea.

The consultancy said that the figure for the first half of this year exceeds the volume recorded during the same period a year earlier by more than double and “should allow the sector to break the historical record for investment reached in 2015, when more than €2,600 million was spent”.

The strong interest in the hotel segment is being driven by a significant increase in hotel rates and sustained demand from tourists.

Spain received almost 28 million international tourists during the first five months of 2017, which represents an 11.6% increase compared to the first five months of last year, when foreign visitor numbers exceeded historical records for the second year in a row.

Spain received a record 75.5 million tourist visits in 2016 and Cehat forecasts that this year the figure will exceed the threshold of 80 million visitors.

According to Irea, investment in the hotel sector was split almost equally between the holiday segment (52%) and the urban segment (48%).

Two deals stood out in the urban sector during H1: the purchase of 55% of the Hilton Diagonal (4* – 433 rooms) by Axa Investment Managers and the acquisition of Hotel Silken Diagonal (4* – 240 rooms) by Benson Elliot and Highgate, both of which were closed for prices of more than €300,000 per room, said Irea.

Meanwhile, in the holiday segment, the star buy was London & Regional’s purchase of a portfolio of 4 hotels containing 2,050 rooms in total from Starwood and Melià, for an estimated amount of €240 million.

According to data from Spain’s National Institute of Statistics, there are 15,855 hotels in Spain, with a total of 822,002 rooms.

Of the 31.5 million overnight stays recorded in May (the latest figures available), 71.3% corresponded to foreign guests and the remaining 28.7% related to domestic customers.

The expectations of another record summer have boost hotel rates in recent months. According to the latest report from Trivago, hotel prices in Spain rose by 14% YoY on average in June to reach €134 per night.

Original story: Reuters

Translation: Carmel Drake